Opposition not uniting?

The Supreme Court ruling that Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. is a natural-born Filipino may be good news for Poe and his camp, but it does not bode well for efforts to unify the opposition.

The opposition is split between Poe and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is also seeking the presidency under the aegis of a faction of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP).

Lacson and Poe are set to meet next month to unite the opposition and discuss who between them should be the standard-bearer of a united opposition.

While in Santiago City, Isabela, Lacson said he was happy for Poe now that the SC has affirmed the movie star’s citizenship and his qualification to run for president.

"I am happy for (Poe) as a Filipino," Lacson said. "At least the Filipino people now have a firmer stand on whom to vote for as a leader."

From the beginning, Lacson said, he had believed Poe was a natural-born Filipino citizen, adding that Poe is "a decent man and a man of his word."

On the campaign trail in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, however, Lacson refused to withdraw from the presidential contest, despite calls from the Poe camp that he quit the race now that the SC has ruled that Poe is qualified to run for president.

Among those who reportedly made the calls were Poe’s running mate Sen. Loren Legarda, and former Senate President Ernesto Maceda, who is seeking a fresh term in the Senate under the KNP banner.

The KNP said it was hopeful that Lacson would give way to Poe so there would be a unified opposition.

"Hopefully, Senator Lacson will give way," KNP spokesman former Rep. Mike Romero said in a telephone interview.

"The common desire of the opposition is to improve the situation," he said, adding that Legarda’s place as opposition vice-presidential bet is "secure."

Romero added that Lacson "is young and he has many years ahead of him. He has a bright future."

Poe’s grassroots supporters said one of the two opposition presidential candidates has to give way if the opposition is to unite.

Filipinos for Peace, Justice and Progress Movement (FPJPM) founder Butch Cadsawan said, "surveys have already shown who is strong and who is doing poorly in the presidential race."

FPJPM was the first group of Poe supporters to ask the actor to run for president. The group collected three million signatures in an effort to convince Poe to seek the presidency.

Lacson said these appeals are "high-handed," coming as they did a day after the Supreme Court decision on the Poe disqualification case.

"Masyadong mayabang ang dating, eh mayabang din kaming dalawa in Caloy (their approach is too high-handed, and Caloy and I are also high-handed)," he said, referring to House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla, his lone senatorial candidate whose third and last term as congressman of Nueva Vizcaya is ending in June after the May elections.

"But if the call came from Senator Maceda, it should not be taken seriously," he said.

Lacson pointed out that he and Padilla would abandon their campaign "only when we see that people’s support for us is waning."

He said the "warm and encouraging" reception that he and his group have been getting in the places in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao that they have been to "is what keeps us going."

As for financial contributions, he said his loyal friends have not denied him their help despite his poor showing in surveys.

"Nakakabiyahe pa naman kami, hindi pa naman kami naghihirap (we can still travel, we’re not yet in the poorhouse)," he added.

As for his Poe’s disqualification case, Lacson said, all those concerned "should leave it at that." The petitioners should no longer file a motion for reconsideration and accept the high court’s decision.

"Let the people decide who is the best candidate who can lead them out of their troubles," he said.

The former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) also appealed to government prosecutors to give him and more than 30 other PNP officers implicated in the Kuratong Baleleng case peace of mind.

"We and our families have suffered long enough. I think they should put this case to rest," he said in reaction to reports that the Department of Justice is resurrecting the Kuratong case that a Quezon City regional trial court has dismissed.

He said various courts, including the Court of Appeals, have thrown out the case at least six times since the supposed summary execution of 11 suspected bank robbers belonging to the Kuratong Baleleng gang on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City in May 1995.

He added that revival of the complaint against him and his co-accused could be part of administration’s efforts to harass him again.

A Lacson presidency, he said, will include the jailing on day one of Jose Pidal — whom he said in a series of exposes before the Senate last year is really First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Jose Pidal, Lacson said in his Senate exposes, was behind multimillon-peso under-the-table transactions involving government projects. However, Mr. Arroyo’s brother, Ignacio, laid claim to the Jose Pidal accounts exposed by Lacson.

While Lacson has an ax to grind against Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Civil Relations Group chief Victor Corpus and former police asset May Ong, alias Rosebud, Lacson said he would rather go after Jose Pidal.

"Pidal’s days are numbered. Pidal should no longer be roaming around. He should be in jail, kung hindi man dapat na lang siya itumba (if not be summarily executed)."

He said that in 2002, over 3,000 foreign investors pulled out of or backed out of deals in the Philippines in favor of other Southeast Asian countries because of the rampant graft and corruption in the government.

"To discipline our mor than 80 million people, we need to discipline first and foremost the 1.4 million government employees and officials, including their closest relatives," he said.

If elected, Lacson intends to have all government employees and officials waive their rights under the Bank Secrecy Law on his first day as president.

"We will prosecute outright those who commit graft and corruption in the new government," Lacson said, adding that a Lacson administration will conduct a no-nonsense anti-graft and corruption campaign.

"We need to bring back respect, trust and confidence (in) government," he said, adding that "to do this, we need a determined leaders who has a strong political will and (an) iron fist to effect these reforms in government." — With Lito Salatan, Charlie Lagasca